Ryan Finn, MD

What I Do

My philosophy of care is rooted in the belief that every individual should be treated with the same level of care and compassion that one would extend to their own family. Chronic pain is a complex and pervasive issue, affecting nearly every aspect of a person's life. My primary objective is to enhance a patient's overall function and quality of life. This often involves a two-fold approach. This approach includes breaking the cycle of acute and chronic pain first and then facilitating the rehabilitation of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. I employ a variety of techniques including interventional procedures, regenerative therapies, manual treatments and occasionally, medications to achieve these goals.

My clinical interests include spinal stenosis, vertebral compression fractures, facet joint pain, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy, complex reginal pain syndrome, post-herpetic neuralgia, chronic post-surgical pain, pain associated with cancer and post-amputation pain. I perform a number of advanced image-guided interventional techniques aimed at precisely targeting and mitigating pain at its source. Some of these include vertebral augmentation with balloon kyphoplasty and mechanical augmentation, neuromodulation including dorsal column and dorsal root ganglion stimulation, minimally invasive lumbar decompression, radiofrequency ablation, vertebral tumor ablation and basivertebral nerve ablation (Intracept).

Why I Love My Work

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing individuals get their lives back after a long struggle with pain. Celebrating the small and large victories against pain is incredibly rewarding. These victories often revolve around achieving functional goals such as being able to play with grandchildren without needing frequent breaks, returning to work without requiring special accommodations, walking longer distances, standing for extended periods and experiencing life without the burdensome side effects of medication. Witnessing severely debilitated patients regain the ability to walk or live pain-free following an intervention has been such a special experience. No matter the outcome, it is a privilege to earn the trust of my patients and walk with them through their pain journey.

Getting to Know Me

My journey into medicine was driven by a deep-seated desire to provide care for those often marginalized in our society, and this path guided me toward specializing in emergency medicine. I treasured the opportunity to practice medicine in the emergency department, where I could quickly establish trust with strangers and provide support during the most challenging moments in their lives. However, as I encountered more chronic pain in the emergency department, I recognized the need to expand my knowledge and skills to provide these patients with the care they truly deserved. This recognition led me to pursue a fellowship in pain medicine. In this specialized training, I delved deeper into the intricacies of pain and gained the tools necessary to effectively treat chronic pain.